I can’t post details yet, but UT’s corporate greed to control all aspects of everything on campus is incredibly frustrating.
September 30, 2008 By Leave a Comment
September 25, 2008 By 1 Comment
Hurricane Ike #8: Update on Family
First, Vanessa’s parents are back with power and all seems to be normal in their world.
Hung, however, is not doing as well. Today, he was allowed back on the island and while he did not take the chance to wait in line to visit, he did hear from his apartment manager. His apartment, while not directly having damage, was below apartments that had a great deal of damage. The resulting water and dampness in the wall resulted in a great deal of mildew to the point that his unit is not livable.
On Friday, he’ll be traveling to Galveston to pick up what of his belongings are still in good condition, moving it to a storage area and starting the process of finding a new place.
September 16, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Anyone had a student loan disappear on them?
I have various student loans. They’re a fun part of my life [sarcasm]. A nice little chunk of my paycheck is used to pay off the various financial institutions that bankrolled my college career.
I’m used to sending them checks–usually electronic, but nevertheless, the cash flow goes toward them. Until today.
I recieved a check from one of the loan services with a memo of 8/1/2008 for the amount of my usual payment. I do a bit of research; my 8/1/08 payment was taken from my account, but not one on 9/1/08. I check online and my account is paid in full. The check was a refund for overpayment.
Why am I confused? I’ve only paid a quarter of the loan. I’ve sent them an e-mail (since the offices are already closed) and figure this out.
I’m not complaining, but just confused.
September 16, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Hurricane Ike #7: Random Notes
A few random notes from various items I found today.
There’s always a way.
The first comes from the problems in Galveston. The city has been using the San Luis Resort and Conference Center as the base of operations during the storm, as the hotel was one of the best built buildings on the island to weather an event like this.
The generator on-site is functioning fine, but city officials simply needed more juice. A request from FEMA returned with a “we don’t install generators in private buildings” reply. What is a mayor to do? The mayor commandeered the facility and declared it a city facility.
FEMA generators are now installed in the building. [original story from chron.com]
Initial shock.
The City of Galveston starting allowing individuals to “look and leave”, giving residents the first chance to check out what happened to their homes or businesses. A chron.com blog entry details the shock that fell upon one gentleman, 20 blocks from the seawall, who saw his never-flooded-before-in-70-years home ravished by at least two feet of water. More than what I can type here, so head to chron.com for the story directly.
A picture is worth a thousand words.
If you can’t tell by now, chron.com, the homepage for the Houston Chronicle newspaper, is an excellent resource for information. Virtually every time you refresh either their homepage or hurricane blog page, new information is present.
One of the things currently on their homepage is a before and after photo spread of Bolivar. Says only things pictures can say.
Mini-update on Vanessa’s parents
According to news from earlier today, The Woodlands will not be fully back on the grid until September 26th; however, the area of town where her parents are at should be restored today. We haven’t heard anything from them yet, so we’ll see.
September 16, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Hurricane Ike #6: Hung
On a related note to the last entry about Vanessa’s parents, Hung is also well. Hung and his cat spent the weekend with me in Austin and now he’s in Dallas. NOAA has posted satellite imagery of Hung’s apartment. For his privacy, I won’t say which complex is his, but if you’ve been there, you should be able to see it.
In short, it’s still there.
